Local Methodist church mission team goes to Ireland

By TERRIE HOPKINS
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Sep 7, 2017 at 10:00 AM

COLLINS — A mission team from the Collins and West Hartland United Methodist churches traveled to Killarney, Ireland in July for a 10-day mission.

The members teamed up with In Motion Ministries (IMM), which is a gateway to the mission field. IMM provides training and opportunities for short-term mission teams to minister God’s love around the world.

While the team was in Killarney, they worked alongside the Methodist church in Ireland, the Rev. Karen Spence and Susan Gallagher and church staff members to go on pray walks. They also held a community barbecue, a youth night and scavenger hunt with the local teens, an evening for mothers to gather at a Mom’s in Prayer meeting that focused on moms praying for their children.

Also there were several days in which the team had opportunities to work with the children in Killarney. One Bible study focused on making little bears stuffed with words and a heart to remind the children of who made them and what God calls them, strong, beautiful, and valuable.

The team also joined church members to go out in the town on prayer walks and to talk with some of the people they encountered to share the good news of Christ and to invite them to the Methodist church for Sunday service and other weekly activities.

They also worked on the church grounds and building. Team members cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, painted the entryway, organized the store room and replanted a tree that was too close to the church building. The last Sunday the team was in Ireland they had the privilege in leading the worship service at the Methodist church which the team members considered to be very successful and God-led.

Ireland’s landscape is amazing and the people that the team encountered where even more amazing and welcoming, which made the mission trip so successful, team members said.

The team members were: Zachary Crane, of Norwalk; Sarah Willinger and Kathy Littleton, both of Wakeman; Eileen Arrington, of Collins; Ginny Faeth, of Tiffin; Micheal Littleton, of Wakeman; Cindy Lundy, of Colorado; Logan Clark, of Nebraska; Josh Arrington, of Collins; Tisa Juanicorena. of Colorado; Terrie Hopkins and Ben Nichols, both of Norwalk; and Mark Page, of Killarney, Ireland.